Yukon scuba diver died of head injury

San Diego  A Camp Pendleton Marine who died while scuba diving on the Yukon ship accidentally drowned due to blunt-force head injury, the Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Lance Cpl. Anastasia “Staci” Jackson, 26, died on Dec. 1. The results of the investigation into her death were released Monday.

Jackson was diving with an instructor and three other classmates on the sunken Canadian destroyer about 2 miles off Mission Beach.

She began to have problems with buoyancy, and her divemaster tried to assist her, but the two lost their grip on each other and she dropped deeper, authorities said. Her body was found the next day, just inside one of the ship’s compartments and tangled in ropes.

Jackson was a native of Philadelphia. Her father, Bruce Atkins, had said his daughter was considering possibly taking over his commercial diving business in Miami.

Jackson was a special intelligence system communicator assigned to the 1st Radio Battalion, 1st Marine headquarters Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Yukon was sunk in 2000 to create an artificial reef for recreational divers. At least three other divers have died at the site. The ship is 366 feet long and has more than 100 compartments and six decks.